Unfortunately I shall not be attending the formal celebrations of Alleyn’s (my old school’s) founding 400 years ago, but I thought I would, instead, upload a suitably Jacobean piece.
My mind turned to the beautiful, tragic verse, In Darkness Let Me Dwell, which was well-known and much used in the Jacobean period.
The first known setting was by John Cooper (aka Giovanni Coprario – don’t ask!), published in 1606. The best-known setting is by John Dowland, published in 1610. Loads of people no doubt set the verse to music.
The mournful piece would still have been popular in 1619 and highly appropriate that year, as the English Queen, Anne of Denmark, died that spring. Anne had been a great patron of the arts; indeed she patronised John Dowland. She was also said to enjoy theatre, such that she (unlike King James I by all accounts) even tended to stay awake during plays.
So Edward Alleyn might well also have mourned the passing of Anne. It is even possible that it was Anne’s passing that triggered King James I to sign the Letters Patent that founded Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift in June 1619. The matter had been mired in bureaucracy and politicking for several years prior to the theatre-loving Queen’s passing.
So, I went in search of a suitable musical setting for 1619 and discovered a rare scrap of music that had been recently discovered in the cellar of an inn located in the Darent Valley lowlands.
It might well have been written in 1619…or do I mean 1966 – anyway it certainly sounds ridiculously old and I’m sure it comes from a year with all 1s, 6s and 9s in it.
If you would like to hear the original settings of In Darkness Let Me Dwell, please click here or below for some tasty videos of some pretty competent musicians. Yes, arguably even more competent than me.